Tag Archives: refugees

POWER OUTAGE

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How lucky are we who have electricity

and solid roofs over our heads

while facing the fiercest storms.

When the cradle rocks and trees fall down

we worry a bit and put on a frown.

Yet, we know we only need to wait,

turn the lanterns up, so bright,

we power on batteries to light the night.

Workmen climb poles

amid cold winds grown bold

to make things right.

No billowing tents for us

with open fire to heat the cold

We simply open a book to read by flashlight.

I wonder why I was born 

in this time and in this space;

why I am blessed with American grace.

I wonder why others have not been so placed.

I do not wonder why they seek their way

through jungles, across rivers,

in deadening heat and torrential rain.

I do not wonder why they face such pain

to carry their children to a safer place.

I only wonder at their courage  to dare

while we so spoiled are unable to face

what we fear to be true.

Those who come on bare feet,

those not so blessed, deserve the same grace

as me, and as you.

Electric power outages can be fixed

by brave service workers and much ado.

Moral power outages are much harder to fix

and need a bigger, even braver, crew.

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MORE ON WAR

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My father fought the War

to End all Wars.

My Godfather fought the War

that has no end.

My brother fought the War

that was a police action.

My nephew fought the War

undeclared for Kuwait’s liberation

and Hussein’s annihilation.

My great-nephew fights the War

To save an autocrat’s administration.

We all fight the War

opposing cruel opposition to immigration.

Once more, people of peace

protest a war taking place abroad

and its counterpart taking place in our streets.

All to save a man from accusation

of pedophilia, rape and sheer brutality 

who will be asked for an explanation

during his interrogation

which could lead to his incarceration.

Have I got that right?

It is not his sons nor daughter who will fight.

But, yours and mine.

Have I got that right?

It all comes from The Right

so I must be Right

or face the consequences.

Have I got that right?

We make such war at our cost

until all is lost.

Have I got that right?

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PURE OF HEART

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com St. Anne with her young daughter, Mary; The grandmother and mother of Jesus of Nazareth.

On  this Holy Day

no obligation takes part

in the love and respect I feel for you,

dearest Mary, Queen of Hearts.

No need for men to declare 

you are woman beyond compare.

Nor need to justify your place

with convoluted tales of grace.

You bore the heavy pregnancy gait

and the seemingly endless 9 months wait,

a grueling trek by foot and donkey

away from safety and into mystery.

You sheltered in the meanest space

and kept up with Joseph’s heartier pace

as women are so often wont to do

for men and children in need of you.

You entertained guests who came to view

the wonder of Light renewed by you.

When you likely most needed rest

you gave your all to all your guests.

And then you fled as Joseph’s dream

must have made you want to scream.

All to keep your loved ones safe and sound.

Your strength and love are so profound.

And still you give to all of us here now

your grace and love and keep your vow

made through Angel Gabriel in ages past;

a promise that to this day still lasts.

“Behold,I am the handmaiden of the Lord;

Let it be done to me according to your word.”

Such a pure heart needs no more explanation.

The Light always carried within you is our salvation.

A feast day for an Immaculate Conception

sounds like a useful mansplain deception.

I overlook my useless eye-rolling emotion

and give you, dear Mary, my full devotion.

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KILL THEM ALL?

Fraud plot in which some Somali immigrants participated? All Somalis are garbage so get rid of them all.

Criminal activity in which some African-Americans engage? All African-Americans are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Investigations and questions by journalists you find troublesome? All journalists are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Some women refuse your advances and sexism? All women are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Venezuelan boaters survive an illegal attack at sea? All Venezuelans are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Democrats pass legislation restricting corporate greed? All Democrats are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Military heroes remind military personnel to refuse unlawful orders? All military and veterans are garbage. Get rid of them all.

CEOs defraud, overcharge for goods and services, underpay workers? All CEOs are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Some White people commit crimes? All white people are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Some men abuse and rape women? All men are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Some bankers hide criminal gains, make money off the deposits? All bankers are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Hate has no logic except its power to destroy.

Hate has no reason except its delight in abuse.

Hate has no goodness in thought or in deed.

Hate is a damning influence and creed.

Hate is the one thing no one needs.

Some people hate? All people are garbage. Get rid of them all.

Hate until no one is left alive, no one at all.

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MY FELLOW AMERICANS

MY FELLOW AMERICANS

I hold my tongue.

It takes strength I do not have.

Whimpers escape

On shattered breaths,

In silent screams.

The fight worries my soul,

Battle weary and choking,

On words held tight inside.

Once the scream begins

I doubt I could stop.

I wait for your speech.

I yearn for your promise

To stop the authoritarian

Who has taken over our house,

Emptied its vaults,

Stolen its wealth,

Sold its power

To the highest bidders.

So, I write. That I can do

While I wait for you.

To me, this nothing new.

Do you believe me now?

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WHERE HAS LOVE GONE?

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I do not know where love has gone.

Into hiding, I believe, free from harm.

So much anger clothed in love’s costume,

hate hidden from view so I am not consumed

by the true nature of what the costume hides;

all except the hands fisted by my side,

which velvet-suaded gloves still reveal

all the angry violence I could wield,

if I were not so terrified of the pain

I could visit upon others. I refrain.

I refuse to become just like those

who name-call with fake smiles and pose

under crosses, and above crowds,

saying the the ugly hate-filled truth out loud.

I desperately try to maintain my balance.

I believe compassion bears no allowance

to strike back when under attack.

But, turning the other cheek is a trait I truly lack.

Never take a punch and not fight back, I heard dad say.

But, never start the fight, if you can safely walk away.

Is this where we are now, afraid to put up the fists

when the attack is scheduled on government lists?

How long do we wait for the blows to fall?

How far before we are imprisoned inside the wall

of government ordnance and secret police?

How will we ever know any peace?

I do not know where love has gone.

I search and I search for however long

it will take me to find it and hold it tight

while I build strength for the coming fight.

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THE AMERICAN SIN

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The sins of the nation 

are visited upon its citizens.

We shouted long and hard

until bullets dropped

on Jacksonville and Kent State.

And that war stopped amid shouts

“Make war no more !”.

War must be stopped at every border

to end the slaughter

of its sons and daughters.

“Make war no more”

the children shouted

barefoot and flowered

and fought the greed

in second-hand shops 

and public gardens

and programs to up-lift those trampled

by endless war which still continued

because it is never enough

to halt the greed of those in power

hidden under rocks with prejudice

and hate who think themselves great

and lie to themselves, and us, hour by hour

smiling through games they create

to keep us all entertained

chasing dreams of American idols

with sports and drink 

gambling on undermined dreams

that can only come true 

for a celebrated few

who are told to take 

whatever they need

at our expense,  

and watch our liberties lost

while sitting on their fence.

We have become country-less

within our own  borders

as war is made, now against us.

And, the world goes on

as our nation dies 

snuffed out under a blanket

of base-less lies.

Greed destroys and religion belies

so long as it gains larger roofs,

and takes over and strafes

those sitting in its pews

praying with true intent

“make war no more”. 

A nation once thought heaven-sent

has lost its religion to endless greed

and our only lament 

is the cost of goods?

“It’s the economy, stupid” 

no longer applies, if it ever did

except to pretend their actions

are for our own good.

It has not and never has been.

Great Pirates and Robber Barons 

never recognize borders

when committing their sins.

Native Americans and those we enslaved

are  always attacked for

showing us the truth.

Gaining wealth is not the sin.

Greed is our greatest sin.

We must stop it on the borders

without and within.

Greed shored up with power

is the story of the hour.

Even those afraid to wake

are now learning

what the woke always

knew to be true.

The greedy care only

about themselves, 

not me, and not you.

We end where we begin,

mired by our own sin.

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AWAKENED

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This is no way to wake up.

Perhaps, it has become the only way.

We may have stayed asleep too long.

we may have missed the call

of our immigrant ancestors.
We may have been too deep in our own dreams.

We may not have heard the alarm

in the voices of those awake,

and made to suffer

while we dreamt on.

We may have found dreams

easier to focus beyond

the painful reality

that comes with the dawn.

Becoming awake means

it is not too late

to set aside hate

which weakens all bonds,

and love our country enough

to make it strong enough

to end the nightmares.

We can and we must 

awaken to a new dawn.

I am awake and I quake

in the light made by evil heat

that feels punishing and wrong. 

Today, I uneasily awake

determined to push on

past those who tell us

some of us

do not belong.

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KNIVES AND FORKS

“A lot of people don’t have much food on their table

But they got a lot of forks and knives

And they gotta cut somethin’ “

-TALKIN’ NEW YORK, Bob Dylan, 1962

It all looks so normal out there

Sitting in a garden chair

Winds drying out the humid air.

Children ride their bikes in the street

Shouting out challenge to those they meet.

Everything looks tidy and neat

Like the 1200 men stowed like trash behind the door

Confined to Cecot, deprived of the rule of law

Hidden and forbidden to leave El Salvador.

Only a few are known criminals, most with misdemeanors 

Like parking tickets, who need an intervenor

To explain confining the innocent is certainly meaner

Than recognizing fraternities are simply rich kids’ gangs

And poverty creates such hunger pangs

That forks are not much use and knives have to cut

Something.

Following daily routines can also be mean

When we ignore so easily the suffering of the poor

So easily victimized while we stand with false pride

Crying on social media at what we have lost,

Free to do so without much cost

Until we discover it is too late to shut the garden gate

And take to the streets dodging kids on  bikes

And march in the parks alongside dogs on the leash

As we try not to see how leashed we are.

This is not normal. We are not normal. 

We search to find normal any way we can, just

Something

before the knives come out.

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IT IS ALL TRANSACTIONAL

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I lifted the blind, closed against the heavy weight of darkness.

But, the darkness lingers still in a world where the ability to see

has become transactional instead of factual.

It is all about the money, we now see.

Truth is no longer able to set us free.

The heavy weight of lies shackles and chains us

and keeps us in our place, where lack of opportunity

now extends beyond those once enslaved.

Too many blindly bow to the oligarchs who stole a nation’s wealth

and put the blame not on themselves, but on everyone else.

It is the people of color, women and homosexuals;

the immigrant and refugee, asylum seekers, librarians,

historians, veterans, unions and universities…

the truth-tellers the upper 1 percent would hide

to save their greedy selves, and tame their shame

behind a white Christian nationalism’s false pride.

Resentment has been nurtured over decades of time,

hardened into stone and fossilized, with guns loaded and primed.

Do not shoot the messengers who only try to lift the blind

and tell the truth you need to hear, about those who put you in this bind.

The sun shouts in voices of students and grandmothers,

unionists and progressives who only want to remind

the leaders still in place, but powerless as institutions crumble,

that we the people will never give up the freedoms  so hard-won.

We will not allow the tyranny of the greedy few to rule 

over  the nation and world we love, never over me and you.

Have we become what we fear most ? A nation of cowards and bullies?

Are we strong enough to lift the blinds and see the truth, finally?

Are we asleep at the post, we guardians of freedom’s hope?

Has greed brought us all to our knees before those who wield wealth

as a cudgel, a chain saw and a weed whacker 

to root out those who seek equal opportunity to build wealth, and be free?

Are we willing to worship the new gods of control, corruption and greed?

It is always about the money; transactional, not factual; selfish, not loving.

Has our beloved community and country been brought to its knees?

Is our ability to love now simply and blindly transactional?

Is no one left to hear our heartfelt, truthful pleas?

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